MLMD – Chapter 12 Entering the City

The sudden voice instantly doused the small sparks that had just flared up in Yue Yang’s heart, and at the same time frightened the Linglong sisters so badly that they fled his embrace like startled rabbits. As Yu Ling ran off, she softly said, “Young Master, Ling’er will go open the door for Shunbao.”

More than ten minutes later, Yue Yang—now changed into a clean set of clothes—followed Shunbao to the reception hall in the old madam’s courtyard.

As soon as Yue Yang entered, he saw the old madam seated at the place of honor. Standing below were the steward Yue Laifu, Hu Laosan of Yue Family Manor’s guards, and several of the manor’s managers, all lined up on either side. Every one of them wore a gloomy, unsightly expression.

Yue Yang walked into the hall, greeted everyone, then sat down beside the old madam. Curious, he asked, “Grandmother, Steward Yue, everyone—what happened? Why do you all look so grim?”

Seeing Yue Yang arrive, the old madam’s previously dark expression eased a little. She forced a smile and said, “Grandson, you’re here. You’ve been away these past few days and worried your grandmother sick. How is it—did you bring the things back?”

“Don’t worry, Grandma. Everything’s been brought back, and it all went smoothly.” Having been busy all night and only just woken up, Yue Yang was already ravenous. As soon as he sat down, he grabbed the pastries on the table and stuffed them into his mouth in two or three bites, eating three pieces in a row. Only after his stomach felt somewhat filled did he pick up the teapot and gulp down some tea. His starving-ghost-like manner made the old madam ache with pity, and she kept urging him to slow down.

After eating a few pastries, Yue Yang felt much better. Only then did he gather his energy and ask, “Alright, Grandma, it’s almost getting dark. You called everyone here—what exactly is it? Just say it straight.”

The old madam sighed lightly. “Grandson, you’ve grown up, and it’s time for you to shoulder the Yue family’s responsibilities. Take a look at this first.” As she spoke, she handed a “name card” on the table to Yue Yang.

Yue Yang took it curiously and began to read. In this era, a name card was similar to a business card in later times, except much larger. This one was bright red, seven cun long and three cun wide. In the upper right corner were three characters—Zheng Fakui—written in tiny script no bigger than a little finger. In the center, written in large characters, were the words: “On the fifteenth day of the sixth month, I invite the head of the Yue family to come to the Yizhou Prefecture Office for a discussion.”

At this, Yue Yang frowned. In ancient times, name cards followed strict etiquette. Generally, the sender’s name was written prominently across the card. When presenting a card to an elder or superior, the name had to be written large—large characters signified humility, while small ones were considered arrogant. This Prefect Zheng had written his own name so small, yet written the matter at hand so large—clearly, he did not regard Yue Family Manor highly at all.

Yue Yang frowned and said, “Grandma, isn’t this Zheng Fakui the prefect of Yizhou City? Why would he send us a name card asking us to go to the prefectural office tomorrow to discuss matters? What is he up to?”

“What else could it be?” the old madam sighed. “He’s simply seen that our Yue Family Manor currently has no one clearly in charge, and that the Li, Wang, and Lin families are all eyeing our Sanggan River. They all want to bite off a piece of meat from us.”

Hearing this, Yue Yang’s brow furrowed. “So those three families still haven’t given up on the Sanggan River? They want to dig canals to divert water?”

Yue Laifu, standing to the side, said with a bitter face, “Of course. Right now, among Yizhou’s four rivers, aside from the Sanggan River, the Hun River, Huangshui River, and Mugua River are all nearly dried up. If there’s no water again, this year’s harvest will be ruined. If they could endure that, it’d be a miracle. A few days ago, only the Wang family was charging ahead, but now it seems even the Li and Lin families can’t hold back anymore.”

Hu Laosan snorted. “But if we let them dig canals and divert water, then it’ll be our turn—our summer grain will be ruined!”

Yue Yang took a deep breath. At this moment, he finally understood why the Wang family had resorted to any means necessary to seize water a few days ago—they truly couldn’t hold on any longer. Without water to irrigate their fields, this year’s summer harvest would be hopeless, and the consequences were something they simply couldn’t bear. Things had reached this point; reasoning with them was pointless.

After thinking for a moment, Yue Yang said to the old madam, “Grandma, how about this—tomorrow, let your grandson go keep this appointment.”

“What? You’ll go?” The old madam was startled for a moment, then slowly nodded. “Yes, you’ve grown up—it’s time you took on the family’s burdens. But Grandma must tell you this: when you go tomorrow, you’ll be facing the combined pressure of the Wang, Lin, and Li families. It’s even possible that Prefect Zheng will side with them. Grandma wants to know—how will you deal with these greedy people?”

After she finished speaking, Yue Laifu, Hu Laosan, and the other managers all looked toward Yue Yang. They wanted to see how the Yue family’s sole heir would handle this crisis. It was a dilemma: refuse, and the Yue family would certainly face joint suppression from the other three families and the authorities; agree, and the already scarce water of the Sanggan River would never be enough to share, meaning this year’s summer harvest at Wuli Village would inevitably suffer. Either choice meant losses for Wuli Village.

Yet to everyone’s surprise, Yue Yang merely smiled faintly and said carelessly, “Grandma, what’s so hard to choose? If the Wang, Lin, and Li families want to dig canals and divert water from the Sanggan River, then let them dig. Why should we refuse?”

“What?!”

The moment Yue Yang said this, not only everyone present, but even the old madam cried out in shock.

“Grandson, can you tell Grandma the reason? Do you know what the consequences of doing this are?”

“What’s there that can’t be done?” Yue Yang smiled. Wasn’t it just a lack of water? Two days ago, he might not have had a solution—but now…

“Grandma, you don’t need to worry about this. Not only did I bring back the seeds I told you about a few days ago, I also brought back something even better. With this, we’ll never have to worry about a lack of water for irrigation again!”

“Oh? Such a good thing exists?” As soon as Yue Yang said this, everyone in the hall looked at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.

Seeing their expressions, Yue Yang knew exactly what they were thinking, but he had no intention of explaining. He thought to himself that after some time passed, they would understand what a miracle truly was…

Seeing Yue Yang’s confident demeanor, the old madam also felt uncertain inside. However, out of trust in her grandson, she chose to believe him. After discussing matters for a while longer, she dismissed everyone.

Early the next morning, Yue Yang set out for Yizhou City on horseback with Shunbao, Hu Laosan, and more than a dozen household guards. By noon, they could already see the city gates of Yizhou.

To be honest, this was the first time since arriving in this world that Yue Yang had seen a city with complete defensive walls. Yizhou City’s walls had a circumference of twenty-six point seven li, stood two zhang high, and had soldiers patrolling on top. As Yue Yang’s group approached the gate, they noticed a large bamboo basket placed to the right of the entrance. The common folk entering the city would consciously toss a copper coin into the basket. Standing beside it were two men in blue long robes—apparently tax clerks collecting the entry tax.

On both sides of the city wall, more than a dozen soldiers wearing tattered red mandarin-duck-patterned battle jackets lounged lazily against the wall with long spears in their arms, listlessly watching passersby. From time to time, someone even yawned.

Seeing the appearance of the people entering the city and the soldiers at the gate, Yue Yang couldn’t help but frown. He had originally thought that the tenants of Wuli Village lived poorly because it was the countryside and couldn’t compare to the city. But now, looking at this—even in a major prefectural city like Yizhou, the common people didn’t seem to be living very well either.

He still wasn’t entirely sure, but after Shunbao paid the entry fee and they entered the city, Yue Yang saw the streets lined with civilians who were still raggedly dressed and sallow-faced. His mood gradually grew heavy. It seemed that the rapid collapse at the end of the Ming dynasty in history had not happened without reason…